Treasure Hunter
by scottsman
Summary: While on a trip to a competition the Saddle Club meets a dashing young treasure hunter who leads them on a quest to recover an long lost treasure thought to belong to pirates
1. Chapter 1

The day dawned clear and bright over Pine Hollow Stables. Max Regnery the owner stood next to his truck tying a tarp over the saddles in the back of the truck. Hitched up to the back of the truck was the long horse trailer. Inside the trailer were Comanche, Starlight, and Prancer. Lisa, Carole and Stevie were already packing their stuff into the truck. They were on their way to Dartmouth a small city on the sea coast. They were going to compete in the junior regionals. Veronica and Kristy were going to but their parents were hauling their horses to the competition in their own private trailers.

Just as the girls finished they heard Veronica and Kristy chattering like a pair of chipmunks.

"Oh he's so gorgeous," said Veronica dreamily. They were looking at an issue of Time Magazine. On the front cover was a picture of the young treasure hunter J. Kyle Ellison. The headline read,** J. Kyle Ellison: The Man, the Myth, the Legend.**

"It says here that he just found a missing Jade Dragon lost during the Ming Dynasty," Said Kristy, she looked at the picture of his face he was a handsome boy of about 16 with brown hair and brown eyes in the picture he was wearing a bluish green button up shirt and a brown leather jacket he was sitting behind a desk with the jade statue halfway in front of him, "he can find me anytime," said Kristy hugging the picture to her chest.

"What's the matter with them?" asked Red O'Malley, the head stable hand as he helped the saddle club girls into the truck.

"They're in love." Said Stevie rolling her eyes

"Again," Red groaned, "Let's just hope for the guy's sake they never actually meet him."

"All aboard," called Max, "Let's get going we have a four hour drive ahead of us and if we don't sign In before 5:30 not only will be not be allowed to compete we'll also lose out entry fee." the time passed quickly for the girls were occupied with talking playing games and singing. After about two hours the pulled into a restaurant to eat. The trio slid into a table to and picked up their menus they could hear Veronica in the booth on the phone behind them complaining about the food that she had even gotten yet.

"Guess what!" she said to Kristy, "Daddy is going to call and asked J. Kyle Ellison to come and be my escort at the pre-competition reception!"

"You're so lucky," Kristy gushed

"Either you've got it or you haven't." she said in a loudly smug voice knowing that the saddle club could hear her.

"That Veronica and her smug attitude make me mad enough to chew nails!" Carole snarled.

"Well maybe this will cheer you up," said Lisa hanging up her cell phone, "I just got of the phone with my Godfather Gavin McIntyre I told him that we're coming to Dartmouth and he insisted on putting us up at the estate!"

"Wait a minute," said Stevie, "Estate, McIntyre, you don't mean Sir Gavin McIntyre the billionaire is your godfather!"

Lisa nodded. The trio began to talk excitedly.

The Pine Hollow entourage stood looking up at the McIntyre Mansion. It was a restored castle that was brought in from Scotland. Above the door was the McIntyre coat of arms. The two massive Oak doors swung open before Max could ring the doorbell. Out came a man who appeared to be in his mid- sixties. He had white hair and a neatly groomed white beard and was about the same height as Max. He immediately scooped Lisa up into a big hug.

"It's so good to see you again princess," he said in a soft deep voice with a Scottish accent. After a round of introductions and handshaking, Sir Gavin led the group inside. As they rounded a corner into the study they saw a large leather-bound book that was set up on its end. As they watched a page in the book turned. A hand snaked around from behind the book and felt around until it touched the sandwich that was sitting on a plate in front of the book. The hand picked up the sandwich and disappeared behind the book

"Jason," said Sir Gavin, "put the book down for a minute there are some people here who would like to meet you." The munching sound stopped and the sandwich which now had a bite taken out of it was returned to the plate. A split second later the book was lowered to reveal the face of a bespectacled 16 year old boy. The boy had brown hair and brown eyes and was nice looking in spite of the glasses.

"Ladies and Gentleman," Sir Gavin announced, "this is Jason my grandson."

"Jason," he said, "These folks are the equestrians from Pine Hollow, Lisa you already know."

"Welcome," said Jason, "I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in." Max waved off the apology and after the usual pleasantries were exchanged sir Gavin rang for the butler had them all shown to their rooms. After that they went for a short ride. After putting the horses in the guest stalls at Sir Gavin Stable there on the estate they returned to the main house.

"Hey guys," said Lisa bursting through the door. The girls froze and looked up. Lisa took one look at what was on the bed in front of them and burst out laughing. Between the two of them they had collected every article ever written about J. Kyle Ellison.

"It appears I discovered my best friend's secret obsession." She said between giggles

"Don't tell anyone okay," they pleaded almost in unison, "If Veronica finds out we'll never hear the end of it."

"Don't worry," said Lisa, "Your secret's safe with me." Then as they put the articles back in the cookie tin Lisa Changed the subject.

"Papa Gavin says that we can use the Jacuzzi and the pool if we want to."

"We don't have bathing suits." Said Stevie

"Follow Me." said Lisa the lead them across the hall to the room that she usually used when she was there. She pushed opened the door to the closet revealing at least 15 to 20 different swim suits. Carole and Stevie dropped their Jaws to the floor.

"Papa Gavin tends to spoil me when I'm here." She said with a smile, "Take your pick." Stevie pick out a one piece that was blue with silver stripes, Carl picked a black and purple swim-suit and Lisa chose a modest two piece red swimsuit. They decided to swim first and save the Jacuzzi for last. They were just settling into the Jacuzzi after their swim when Kristy who was up of the high dive gave a squeal.

"I just saw J Kyle Ellison's Modified Hummer go by." She said jumping up and down.

"Are to sure," said Veronica running up to the ladder. Before Kristy could answer she was reminded that a diving is spring loaded on the last bounce her feet went out from under her, the board caught her by her rear bounce her out into space causing to do the most painful belly flop anyone present had ever seen.

As the Saddle Club girls walked back into the house after their laughter had subsided Carole leaned over to Lisa.

"Do you think that J. Kyle Ellison could really be here in Dartmouth?" Just then Lisa Caught sight of a pair of glasses on the table were Jason had been sitting.

"Anything is possible." She said


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It was 9 p.m. at the McIntyre Estate; Mrs. Reg was busy getting the girls to bed. Lisa, Stevie and Carole said their "good nights" and went to their separate rooms. When all the upstairs commotion was over and silence had settled over the hallway. Lisa slipped out of bed. Crossing the room she entered her closet. Closing the closet door she reached up and turned a knob on the bottom of the brass light fixture hanging on the wall. There was the soft sound of wood scrubbing on wood as a hidden door in the wall behind a stack of hundred- year-old steamer trunks.

Walking around the trunks she stepped through the secret doorway into narrow passage way inside the brick wall. She walked about 15 feet down the passage way and turned a corner to face an antique elevator. She raised the gate and stepped into the elevator lowering the gate back into place. She pulled the lever and the elevator started down. The elevator kept going down until it was well underground. Finally the elevator came to a stop and Lisa walked out of it into a secret library built into a cave.

The books shelves were so tall that you had to have a ladder to reach the top shelves and there were three levels to this library. The library was in a semi-circle around a large open area. In the corner of the open area stood a large oak desk with a state of the art computer. There were also several grand display cases with ancient gems and other artifacts. A large chair stood in the middle of this open area. A pair of human legs extended from the chair and rested crossed on the table. Lisa smiled when she saw a hand place a brown leather Crocodile Dundee hat on the smaller table next two the chair. She walked up him and unceremoniously plopped right down in his lap.

"Hello," she said

"Hello," said Jason, "What brings you down here?"

"Well," she said, "I just wanted to know what you were hunting."

"What makes you think that I'm in the middle of a hunt?" said Jason playing dumb.

"Jason," Said Lisa giving him her patented don't-insult- my- intelligence-look, "if you don't spill I'm going to tell those two wacky blondes upstairs that your full name is Jason Kyle Ellison."

"You wouldn't," said Jason

"Wanna bet," said Lisa lowering her eyebrows.

"All right, all right," said Jason, "you win and call me Kyle it's the name I prefer." He reached down and picked up the book he had dropped when Lisa landed in his lap.

"This is what I'm working on." He said opening the leather bound book. Lisa's eyes moved from him to the page in front of her. She read for several seconds.

"This is the legend of Jonathan "Blackjack" LeFoe," she said looking up from the book, "Kyle, are you telling me that you think that the legend about him burying his treasure around here is true?"

He nodded, "I thought it was a legend myself until about a week ago when I found this while scuba diving off the coast." He produced a very old bronze plate with a seal on it."

"Here," he said handing her a magnifier, "Look at it with the magnifying glass."

"These markings," said Lisa, "they're identical to the royal seals that were on the treasure ship, the HMS Dartmouth, Blackjack LeFoe was said to have gutted and sank!"

"That's right," said Kyle.

"That means that the story is true and the Treasure is real!" Lisa said as her excitement grew.

"That's right," said Kyle

"Wait a minute," said Lisa her enthusiasm waning, "how are we supposed to find the treasure? Captain LeFoe was the only person who knew the exact location of the treasure."

"That's true," said Kyle, "It stumped me for a while too. Then I found an old Newspaper article from about a hundred years ago that says that LeFoe kept a journal and that the journal was kept in the archives of the old Dartmouth Library. It is possible that he might have left some clue to the whereabouts of the treasure in his journal."

"But the old Dartmouth library was leveled in a rock slide in 1929." Lisa Said, LeFoe's journal was probably destroyed."

"That's what I thought too," Kyle said, "then I found the blueprints for that library at the county courthouse. The main floor of the library and the second story were wood walls and frames, but the basement where the journal was kept was made of stone." Lisa's excitement began to return,

"So there is a chance that old Dartmouth archives are still intact!" she said

"Right," said Kyle, "tomorrow I'm going to meet with Johnny Murdock, I'm going to trade a gold statue that he asked me to find for an antique map of the area that he has."

"Johnny Murdock is a dangerous gangster," said Lisa, "You'll need me to back you up."

"Hold it," said Kyle, "first this is too dangerous and second your mother is going to be here this weekend to see you ride. If she finds out that I've been letting you tag along on my hunts every now and then she'll kill both of us!"

"Do you want me to tell those blonde's upstairs all of your secrets?" asked Lisa. She had him right where she wanted him and she knew it. He threw up his hands,

"Alright but if I say run, you run and don't look back, understand?" Lisa nodded

"Good," said Kyle as he stood up lifting her in his arms, "I want to keep you safe, I happen to be partial to brunettes." He kissed her cheek and sat her down gently on her feet.

"Night princess," he said giving her a little wink before dissapearing into the elevator that led to the hidden panel in his closet.

An elevator ride and a short walk later Lisa snuggled down into her bed she smiled as she thought about Kyle. he was too modest to think of himself as handsome and charmimg. it made her giggle a little bit as she thought of how mystified he always was by the attention that he recieved from her side of the species. she had to admit she liked J. Kyle Ellison too, but not necessarily the treasure hunter. She liked the nice guy that called her princess and alway looked out for her. her musings over she nestled down in the bed and drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

**TBC Please review**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

It was just after midnight at the McIntyre Estate, when Lisa was awakened by the sounds of a scuffle drifting through the window. She jumped out of bet and ran through the French doors out on to the balcony. Peering over the railing she saw Kyle in a fight, down by the pool house. with someone in a ski mask. Kyle was dodging and blocking every punch with effortless ease. Lisa knew that Kyle kept himself in tip top shape and that for years he had studied the martial arts.

Lisa saw the glint of metal in the intruder's hand. Swinging her legs over the railing she jumped from the balcony to a nearby oak tree. Once in the tree she climbed down as fast as she could thankful that she had decided to bring pajamas instead of a night shirt. When she reached the ground she turned just in time to see Kyle catch the intruder's arm and flip him end over end onto the ground. Kyle gave the man's arm a sharp twist and there was a sharp crack as the bone in the man's arm snapped. The man cried out in pain. Jumping up he ran off into the night holding his arm. The cry from the injured intruder brought everyone else in the house running. When Kyle saw them coming, he quickly turned his back to them and put his glasses back on and shifting his speaking voice up half an octave he became Jason once again.

"What happened, Jason." asked Max

"Just a prowler," said Kyle, "I think I taught him a lesson though."

"All right every," said Mrs. Reg, "the excitement is over. Everyone back to bed." Is they turned Lisa saw Christy gazing at Kyle with the look she always had on her face when she was in boy chasing mode. It was all Lisa could do to keep from feeding Christy her fist. That was the one thing she hated about Christy she thought that she had to own every boy in her vicinity. For some reason it particularly bugged her when it came to Kyle.

Carole and Stevie walked down the streets of Dartmouth window shopping. The rounded the corner and were heading for the intersection when Stevie broke the silence.

"What did Lisa say again," she asked

"She said that her mother would get upset if she didn't spend at least one day of her vacation with Jason." Replied Carole

"Bet that's exciting," said Stevie in a voice dripping with sarcasm.

MEANWHILE…

J. Kyle Ellison, clad in black slacks, dress shoes, a white shirt, a black sport coat and a black leather hat walked into Boudreaux's the fanciest restaurant in town on his arm was a pretty brunette wearing a red dress.

"Alright you know what to do," Kyle said quietly to Lisa, he pulled a tin of mints out of and offered her one to make the conversation appear casual. Lisa took one of the mints and popped it into her mouth. She savored the flavor. She loved Kyle's strong mints. Her mother never would buy those kind at least not since Melanie had tried one and it mad her eyes water. They walked down the steps into the dining area and were immediately approached by one of the hosts who lead them to Murdock's private table. A few seconds later he returned with the drinks they ordered just after they sat down. From this table Murdock could see almost all of the dining area. They all took a sip of their drinks before anyone spoke.

Lisa immediately noticed that one of the sitting next to Murdock at the table had a cast on his right arm.

"You've have found the gold statue of Coronado?" asked Murdock

"You know I have," said Kyle, "last night one of your boys tried to get it without paying for it. Now where's the map."

"You know," said Murdock as he fondled the map in his hands, "After I made the deal with you to trade this old map for the statue I started thinking why would you trade something as valuable as that statue for an old map unless you stand to gain something even more valuable with the map. So I've decided I just keep the map and take the statue. Murdock's boys went for their guns but were stop dead in their tracks when a silenced gunshot shattered the wood in the front of the chair between Murdock's legs. Murdock froze and Kyle smirked. Murdock noticed that both of Kyle's hands were in plain sight but Lisa had her left hand under the table.

"That was a warning shot, Murdock," Growled Lisa, "the next one won't be aimed at the chair. Now tell your boys to put their hands back on the table and leave them there or I'm going to change your religion."

Murdock still looked smug,

"I think you'll want to trade statue for this, my dear Ellison," said in a voice with more oil in it than an olive press as he held up a small vile with a red liquid in it. "This is the antidote for the poison that I had the waiter put in your girlfriend's drink."

_Wait a minute,_ thought Lisa as she was about to panic, _If he put poison in my drink why do I feel just fine?_

"You know," said Kyle, "it's a good thing that my "girlfriend" likes the kind of mints that I carry around with me because the one that she ate just before we got to table was laced with a more than sufficient dose of the antidote for your poison." All cockiness left Murdock's as Kyle sat there smirking. Lisa felt a smirk coming across her face as she realized that without her even knowing Kyle had managed to protect her again.

Kyle stood up and walked around to Murdock. He took the map from Murdock and placed the statue in his hands.

"Thanks Johnny boy," he said, "it's been a pleasure doing business with you." Lisa stood up and together she and Kyle backed toward the stairs. Turning they ran up the stairs and out the door. Behind them in the restaurant they heard

"Get them you morons!"

They raced around the corner to the lot where the Hummer was parked. When they reached the hummer Kyle Opened the door and was pushing Lisa in ahead of him with They heard a gasp behind them. The whirled around to find Carole and Stevie standing there with their mouths hanging open.

Before anyone could say anything Lisa and Kyle grabbed them and shoved them into the hummer. Just as Kyle opened the driver's side door there was a gunshot Kyle recoiled sharply then the girls saw blood running down his right arm. Carole looked down through the window and recoiled there on the ground was a severed finger! Kyle jumped into the car and Lisa wrapped a towel around the injured hand and they peeled off down the road.

They swerved around a corner and headed out of the town.

"Their still behind us, Kyle," said Lisa, "Can we go Turbo,"

"Were going to have to find some other way to lose them," said Kyle shaking his head, "I don't think I could control this thing at turbo speed with only one hand."

"I've got it," said Lisa, "she reached over and pressed a button on the console between them, a stream of oil dropped out of the back of the hummer. The black sedan with Murdock's men in it hit the oil and went into a tail spin. They careened of the road and into a ditch. They were left there shaking their fists as the hummer disappeared from sight.

A few minutes later the hummer pulled into the mouth of cave right there in the side of a mountain,

"Where are you going, Mr. Ellison?" said Carole, "you need to see a doctor you go a finger shot off back there!!"

"I'm fine," said Kyle as they pulled into a secret parking garage next to the secret library. Kyle jumped out and opened the door for Lisa and the other girls.

"Lisa," said Stevie, "you seem to know him, talk to him he needs to go to the emergency room!"

"No he doesn't," said Lisa, "Look," she unwrapped the towel around Kyle's hand."

The girl's eyes widened instead of a wound, there was a brand new finger.

"How," said the two girls,

"I was born with a body that heals at a phenomenal rate," said Kyle, "Not only that I can grow a new appendage or limb when and if I should lose one."

After the shock had worn off they began to remember who they were talking too and they went to bashful.

"Lisa," they said, "you've got some explaining to do!"

**To be continued…**

**Please read and Review**


End file.
